John 3:22-36: He Must Increase

Jeremiah 23-25, Ecclesiastes 7:15-29, John 3:22-36, James 5:1-6

John 3:22-36:

Note: As we go through John’s Gospel together over the next few weeks, I refer you to the broadcasts from the Gospel of John which will provide more commentary on the passage. Here are links to the two sermons related to today’s passage: Whoever Believes, Part 1, and Whoever Believes, Part 2.

Take, then, and read this section of John, and this morning simply reflect on the following bullet points:

• Baptism was practiced by John and also by Jesus’ disciples. Have you been baptized? If Jesus himself was baptized, and if Jesus’ disciples baptized, what prevents you from being baptized?
• Jealousy spoils so much of life. It can even spoil our witness. How does John model an open-handed, humble, and “he must become greater, I must become lesser” approach to life and Christian ministry? What can we learn from verse 30, and how can we apply that example of John when we feel marginalized or unappreciated?
• “The wrath of God remains on him” (verse 36). Do we look at the world in which we live, and all people outside of Christ, as those on whom God’s wrath remains? Does that make more sense of our experience of the disappointment and pain of this universe?
• The choice that is presented in verse 36 is crystal clear: believe in Jesus, have eternal life; do not obey Jesus, do not have eternal life. Have we realized that there is no other way to find life other than through believing in Jesus? Do we make the stark choice of verse 36 clear to our unbelieving family and friends?
• Note the parallelism between “believe” in the first part of verse 36, and “obey” in the second part of the verse. Evidently, to believe in Jesus means to obey Jesus. (See Paul’s phrase in Romans “the obedience of faith”). There is in faith a submission, obedience, to Jesus. Is that the kind of faith we have? Or is our faith merely “notional” – like believing that Australia exists but never visiting there, as opposed to believing that Australia is the greatest country in the world and therefore emigrating to Australia and becoming a citizen of Australia. The second kind of “believing” is what the Bible means by “believing in Jesus.” In other words, it means submitting ourselves in obedience to Jesus as God and the God of our lives.